A few months, ago, we wrote about how a slowing trend in Medicare spending had led federal budget forecasters to make drastic reductions in their estimates of the program’s costs. On Monday, they made similar cuts in their forecast of what the federal government will spend on private insurance premiums.
The revisions reflect growing evidence that health care spending in the country — which has traditionally grown much more quickly than the overall economy — is entering a new, more moderate era. It is still rising, but not very much any more.
That could eventually be not only a boon for consumers, but it could also have big implications for the federal budget: If the Congressional Budget Office is right, the amount the federal government pays for health insurance in the coming years will be hundreds of billions of dollars lower than it recently forecast, meaning a much smaller federal deficit....
There was every reason to believe in the initial years of the ACA the costs would increase by the sheer neediness of those requiring healthcare. But, reality dictates as soon as a person enters into healthcare their wellness stabilizes and their neediness in health care diminishes. It looks as though that is occurring.
The ACA provides a free health care visit every year. In that is the understanding there is no cost therefore no excuse to decline this annual physical. Along with the annual check up is a list of preventive health care dictates. Those preventive care measures will work to detect early any health issue and correct the trajectory of outcomes to the consumer.
I resist to speculate too much, but, it is very likely that after two years of the ACA the known annual costs will be predictable. The beauty of knowing the level of wellness of the nation will provide even better health care outcomes as medial professionals can address hot spots in diagnosis to bring about better outcomes. I strongly suspect at it's tenth year anniversary the ACA will not only have paid for itself many times over in the way of well Americans, but, will have proven a significant impact on the cost of health care. It is far easier to care for a well American than one with multiple co-morbidities.
This graph is also from the New York Times article. It shows the actual reduction in spending, whereby percent of GDP is good news, it can be a bit deceptive to the actual costs. It isn't just that the economy is better, but, also the fact the costs are coming down.
